New owner with heart of gold needed for abandoned Sheffield cats

Caring animal lovers with a heart of gold are being urged to come forward and give a loving home to nine young kittens - who have all been named after Team GB’s Olympic heroes.

The kittens had been dumped in a cardboard box at the side of a busy road in Sheffield and left for dead - but they were handed in to a cat sanctuary by a kind-hearted passer-by.

The Sheffield Cats Shelter, which rescues around 400 cats a year and is looking after the kittens, is now urging members of the public to come forward and provide a home for them.

Trustee Christine Goddard said: “The kittens would have died, had it not been for the kindness of a passer-by who found them.

“Three of the kittens are only four-weeks-old and too young to be without their mother.

“So these little ones, who have been named after our Olympian heroes, Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and Bradley Wiggins, have gone to a loving foster home.”

Three of the other kittens are being cared for at the Sheffield Cats Shelter and they have also been named after gold medal winning Olympians too, including Sheffield’s Jessica Ennis-Hill, tennis superstar Andy Murray and track hero Mo Farah.

Staff at the centre said the kittens were riddled with fleas but after being in the care of the shelter they are now ‘doing very well and have already become playful little kittens’.

Charity manager Josie Walker said: “We have a network of volunteers who foster cats or kittens for us, so that it frees space at the shelter.

“Phil and Donna Elsey are dedicated foster carers to many of our kittens and they didn’t hesitate to add these three to the many kittens they are already caring for.”

A spokeswoman for the shelter added that the charity is also in need of public donations in order to keep going.

She added: “Happily, these kittens have a good chance of surviving, and being adopted, because the Sheffield Cats Shelter were able to help. But caring for unwanted cats and finding new homes for them comes at a cost. The Shelter cannot help these animals without public support. So if you care about the welfare of animals in this city, please help by sending a donation.”

Anyone who can give a home to the kittens or who would like to donate to the centre is asked to visit www.thesheffieldcatsshelter.org